CamTrackAR Guide #1: Getting Started | FREE 3D Camera Tracker for iOS

and with powerful apps these advanced cameras enable so much more and with the lidar scanner they paint the way to completely new workflows like motion tracking with cam track ar super accurate depth data makes going from green screen to pre-visualization on location easier than ever and you can build that final render with greater confidence hey everyone welcome to the first episode of our camtrak ar masterclass by the end of this series you are going to have all of the knowledge that you need to take full advantage of our free virtual production studio app for ios cam track ar in this first episode we're going to be covering what cam track ar is why it's so cool and why you should be using it and how to do just that we'll go over the controls and film a shot against green screen and in the later episodes i'll show you what to do after filming has been completed how to take the data from the app and plug it into your software of choice to get that perfect final composite so first off let's talk about what cam track ar is and what it does well when it comes to creating visual effects motion tracking is a cornerstone of that process this is the act of replicating the camera's motion so that your effects appear stuck on correctly to your footage if you don't motion track and you haven't shot on a tripod the effects won't look integrated into the scene it's an essential process in the workflow now prior to cam track ar the process of motion tracking was done after filming was completed it's also a manual step in the workflow the computer is the one that figures it out but you have to kickstart that process and make corrections and adjust settings if it doesn't do it correctly this can make motion tracking difficult and time-consuming because things like motion blur or lack of detail in your shot can sometimes completely invalidate a good track meaning you have to do it frame by frame so what does cam track ar do differently it records the data as you record the footage cam track ar also has numerous features to pre-visualize the visual effects before you start shooting which we'll cover in this video this makes it easier to communicate your ideas to your colleagues and get an idea of what the final result will be earlier in the process this is a super innovative idea and we're giving you this power for free and on your mobile device which everyone pretty much has access to nowadays so how do you get in on this new and exciting tech you can install cam track ar on your ios device just like any other app from the official app store feel free to read more about it in the description or check out what devices it's compatible with in the information section let's hit free to download the app it's now ready to go as mentioned in the beginning you can download camtrak ar for free and this includes free export to hitfilm and blender and one point anchor when you're using the app which i'll demo in a minute now if you decide to upgrade to the paid version of camtrak ar you get access to several professional and high-end features most of which were added in the recent 2.0 update this includes export to more formats after effects autodesk fbx export and full export of the raw data to plain text like josn and csv you get multiple positioning points when you're using the app live chroma key capabilities as well as the ability to import 3d models in real time with 3d usdz and image import you also get access to all future updates for the app itself you can get access to camtrak ar through either a subscription for 4.99 a month or a one-time purchase of 29.99 we wanted to make this powerful tech accessible to all kinds of filmmakers now with that all cleared up let's take a look at camtrak ar in action no matter what the end result of using cam track ar ends up being the first step is to always scan the scene just by walking around and pointing the camera at different things this helps ar kit get familiar with your location and build a reference for how the environment is laid out the tracking icon in the top left here gives you some more information about how that's going you can reset the tracking data and start again by tapping the icon once our scene has been scanned we can set the floor plane by pointing our device at it and hitting this button we're now ready to record but there are a few things that you should know how to do beforehand starting in the top left of the interface here you can tap this number 60 which is the recording frame rate to change it to 30 if that better fits your edit you're limited to recording in hd at the moment but this is a limitation of ar kit we're working with apple to open up more options on available devices in the center here we have our time code which will start counting when we record this question mark icon will open up the manual in your browser handy if you need to quickly check what an icon means or need more instructions moving on to this set of icons in the bottom right these give you more control over how the camera functions before you record the first one here is for white balance you can toggle on and off the auto function and scroll the wheel to set a custom kelvin temperature we then have two controls for exposure a wheel to brighten or darken your scene and a button to activate or disable auto exposure toggling this back and forth will undo any changes you've made to the wheel and finally an autofocus icon to stop the camera from refocusing if you change distance to your subject you can set the focus by enabling it allowing the camera to focus then disabling the auto function when you're using the chroma key function in cam track ar it's recommended that you turn off these auto settings as any changes while filming can affect the quality of the key which brings us to the icons in the bottom left we first have the set floor plane button we used earlier then we have an icon to add anchors into our 3d scene remember that you get one anchor if you're using the free version of camtrak ar and more than one if you've either subscribed or bought the full version to remove a point that you've placed point the green grid target at it and then hit the trash can icon that appears on the right if you're using a green screen cam track ar allows you to key it out in real time with this button here open up the settings and activate the chroma key function cam track ar will look at the scene and key out the most present color here you have several sliders to adjust the strength of the key you can see what it's doing by referring to the color chart on screen this next icon lets you import content into the 3d space you can import a usdz 3d model or an image from your files or albums i'll go ahead and do that now the item will now appear on the target in the 3d world and will move around as if it stuck to it you can press the plus icon to place the object in the world at that position and orientation swipe your finger horizontally across the screen to rotate the object pinch the screen to scale it up or down in size use two fingers and swipe vertically on the screen to raise or lower the object and if you want to put the item back on the floor just double tap the screen to reset its position if you find that the view is getting cluttered you can use the icons in the top right the first controls the view of the 3d world the middle controls the visibility of helper overlays like the grid lines and the last turns on and off the camera feed depending on what you want the nv effect shot to be it might be helpful to place an anchor point this will come through in the data later so for example in this first shot here i'd place an anchor where i want my 3d model to be now we're ready to record but keep in mind that the only things that will actually be recorded are the raw camera data and the tracking data any 3d models or chroma key that you've placed into the scene won't be recorded into the shot these are just for previous when you finish recording a pop-up will notify you that the files have been saved onto your device they can be found in the files app what i like to do is compress the folder first and send it to myself using email or slack but you can do what works best for you you can also just send the individual files you need if you want to save on some space now that we've got the files onto our computer we can begin the compositing process and that's what we're going to cover in the next episodes in this master class we'll take a look at hitfilm after effects blender as well as unreal engine if you have any questions about what we covered today feel free to leave a comment below don't forget to subscribe and ring the bell so that you're notified of when the next episodes go live i'll see you all in the next video

Channel: FXhome

Views: 20,470

Keywords: hitfilm, hitfilm express, hitfilm pro, vfx, filmmaking, editing, software, video software, visual effects, how to, camtracker, cameratrackar, cameratracker

Id: sLhJq265DSo

Length: 7min 37sec (457 seconds)

Published: Thu Jun 10 2021